WORLD

INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
ORGANIZATION
Sehrish Qayyum
Ph.D. Political Science
(sch.)
 • Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the
mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works;

Intellectual
designs; and symbols, names and images used in
commerce.

Property • There are many types of intellectual property, and

some countries recognize more than others.
• The most well-known types are copyrights, patents,
trademarks, and trade secrets.
 Introduction
• The World Intellectual Property Organization
WIPO; French: Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle
(OMPI) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United
Nations (UN).
• Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishing the World Intellectual
Property Organization, WIPO was created to promote and
protect intellectual property (IP) across the world by cooperating with
countries as well as international organizations.
• It began operations on 26 April 1970 when the convention entered into
force, a date commemorated annually as World Intellectual Property
Day, which raises awareness of the importance of IP.
• WIPO's activities including hosting forums to discuss and shape
international IP rules and policies, providing global services that
register and protect IP in different countries, resolving transboundary
IP disputes, helping connect IP systems through uniform standards
and infrastructure, and serving as a general reference database on all
IP matters
• this includes providing reports and statistics on the state of IP
protection or innovation both globally and in specific countries.
• WIPO also works with governments, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), and individuals to utilize IP for socioeconomic development.
 • WIPO administers 26 international treaties that concern a wide variety of IP
issues, ranging from the protection of broadcasts to establishing international
patent classification.
• It is governed by the General Assembly and the Coordination Committee,
which together set policy and serve as the main decision-making bodies.
• The General Assembly also elects WIPO's chief administrator, the Director-
General, currently Francis Gurry of Australia, who took office on 1 October

Continued..
2008 and was reappointed in May 2014 for a second six-year term.
• WIPO is administered by a secretariat that helps carry out its day-to-day
activities.
• Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO has "external offices" around the
world, including in Algiers, Algeria; Rio de Jainero, Brazil; Beijing, China, Tokyo,
Japan; Moscow, Russia; and Singapore.
• Unlike most UN organizations, WIPO does not rely heavily on assessed or
voluntary contributions from member states; 95 percent of its budget comes
from fees related to its global services.
• WIPO currently has 193 member states, including 190 UN member states and
the Cook Islands, Holy See and Niue; Palestine has permanent observer status.
• The only nonmembers are the Federated States of
Micronesia, Palau and South Sudan.
 The predecessor to WIPO was the United International Bureaux for
the Protection of Intellectual Property (Bureaux Internationaux
Réunis pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle, with
the French acronym for "BIRPI")

It was established in 1893 to administer the Berne Convention for

History
the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the Paris
Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

WIPO was formally created by the Convention Establishing the

World Intellectual Property Organization, which entered into force
on 26 April 1970.

Under Article 3 of this Convention, WIPO seeks to "promote the

protection of intellectual property throughout the world".

WIPO became a specialized agency of the UN in 1974.

• The Agreement between the United Nations and the
World Intellectual Property Organization notes in
Article 1 that WIPO is responsible

“for promoting creative intellectual activity and for facilitating WIPO’s

Responsibility
the transfer of technology related to industrial property to the
developing countries in order to accelerate economic, social
and cultural development, subject to the competence and
responsibilities of the United Nations and its organs,
particularly the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development, the United Nations Development Programme
and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization,
as well as of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization and of other agencies within the United
Nations system”.
 Continued..
• The Agreement marked a transition for WIPO from the
mandate it inherited in 1967 from BIRPI, to promote the
protection of intellectual property, to one that involved the
more complex task of promoting technology transfer and
economic development.
• Unlike other branches of the United Nations, WIPO has
significant financial resources independent of the
contributions from its Member States.
• In 2018, WIPO's revenue amounted to CHF 430.6 million.
• 74.6% of WIPO's 2018 revenue was generated from its Patent
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) fees.
Development Agenda
• In October 2004, WIPO agreed to adopt a proposal offered by Argentina
and Brazil, the "Proposal for the Establishment of a Development Agenda
for WIPO"—from the Geneva Declaration on the Future of the World
Intellectual Property Organization.
• This proposal was well supported by developing countries. The agreed
"WIPO Development Agenda“ (composed of over 45 recommendations)
was the culmination of a long process of transformation for the
organization from one that had historically been primarily aimed at
protecting the interests of rightholders
• Those right holders that has increasingly incorporated the interests of
other stakeholders in the international intellectual property system as
well as integrating into the broader corpus of international law on human
rights, environment and economic cooperation.
• Several civil society bodies have been working on a draft Access to
Knowledge (A2K)treaty which they would like to see introduced.
• In December 2011, WIPO published its first World Intellectual Property
Report on the Changing Face of Innovation, the first such report of the
new Office of the Chief Economist.
• WIPO is also a co-publisher of the Global Innovation Index.
 WIPO has established WIPOnet, a global
information network.

Information
Network The project seeks to link over 300
intellectual property offices (IP offices) in
all WIPO Member States.

In addition to providing a means of secure

communication among all connected
parties, WIPOnet is the foundation for
WIPO's intellectual property services.
Economics and Statistics Division
• WIPO's Economics and
Statistics Division gathers
data on intellectual property
activity worldwide and
publishes statistics to the
public.
• The Division also conducts
economic analysis on how
government IP and
innovation policies affect
economic performance
 • Since 2009, WIPO has published the annual World Intellectual
Property Indicators, providing a wide range of indicators
covering the areas of intellectual property.

World • It draws on data from national and regional IP offices, the

WIPO, the World Bank, and UNESCO

Intellectual • This authoritative report 2018 analyzes IP activity around the

globe.

Property • Covering the filing, registration and maintenance of patents,

utility models, trademarks, industrial designs,

Indicators
microorganisms, and plant variety protection, and
geographical indications, the 2018 edition also looks at the
creative economy for the first time, making it even more
comprehensive.
• The special theme explores how one might statistically
capture patent litigation activity and presents selected
statistics for the United Kingdom and the United States of
America.